Chapter 46 - The Beginning of the End

“Do you remember the promise you asked me to give you? Thomas whispered, voice turned soft and warm, and far more intimate than ever before. I shook my head, but no words came out. His pleading gaze searched mine. “The promise I made to come back for you if you died?”

 Oh, that one.

I lowered my head, visualizing myself back at the castle with tears streaming down my cheeks when I'd begged him not to leave me.

 How could I forget?

Suddenly, it hit me just how much I'd missed him. And right then, all I really wanted...no, scratch that...all I really needed was to hear him say he'd missed me too. Or maybe he didn't feel the same way.

Thomas placed a finger under my chin and gently tilted my face toward his. When our eyes met, he smiled encouragingly. “I kept my promise.”

The truth left me with a sickening feeling.

I frowned, glancing around at my surroundings. “If I'm really dead, then why am I here?” Not that I was complaining, of course. But this didn't look like Heaven.

Not even close.

Cupping my face between his hands, Thomas replied, “I know you too well, Chaos. You are much too stubborn to accept any outcome that doesn't include you saving yourself.”

 He had a point.

 My frown deepened. “Are you trying to tell me that I didn't walk here on my own?”

He smiled sheepishly. “I planted the dream to make you think that.”

Wiggling free of his hold, I narrowed my eyes. “Why?”

 “To give you time to accept the truth.”

I crinkled my brow in frustration. “What, that my body is really still floating in that hell hole?”

He shook his head. “Not exactly.”

 I felt myself getting annoyed with him. “Then where am I, exactly?”

 In one fluid motion, he stood up and moved away from me. Standing sullenly in front of the fireplace he paused to rake his hands through his unruly hair, staring into the flames as if he could find the answer hiding there.

 I pulled my hair across my newly clean face, ashamed of how I must still look. Twirling the ends between my fingers, I couldn’t help but admire his dark, masculine beauty. I especially loved the fact that no matter how he fixed his hair, it always seemed to have a mind of its own. Just like mine. Dressed in yet another white T-shirt and wearing a pair of extra tight blue denim pants, I found myself wondering if he was wearing the jeans, or if the jeans were wearing him. Thankfully, that part about him hadn't changed. Especially the sleek, black leather jacket he always wore that did little to hide his well toned physique.

 When Thomas finally turned back around, his eyes burned with an intensity I'd never experienced before.

“Come with me." He didn't make it sound like a request so much as a demand. Gently pulling me to my feet, he reached out to smooth the hair out of my face. I sucked in my breath when his fingers brushed my bare skin. A dozen conflicting emotions battled deep within him. The one I picked up on the most was jealousy.

 What I didn't know was why.